By Lyle Fitzsimmons - It’s official. I really dig Carl Froch.
I’ve seen him fight a few times in a few years – in both wins and losses – and he’s always reminded me a little bit of another slick U.K. super middleweight elitist, one Joe Calzaghe.
I got on the Calzaghe bandwagon just before his career-erupting defeat of Jeff Lacy and rode it through wins over Mikkel Kessler and Bernard Hopkins, so seeing another guy from that part of the world climbing the 168-pound ladder automatically warrants my extra attention.
Full disclosure… I was the idiot who thought Roy Jones Jr. would beat him.
That notwithstanding, one of the things I always admired about Calzaghe, other than the fact that he shares a March 23 birthday with my son, was the smooth-talking assassin persona he unfailingly displayed before fights – regardless of their opponent, significance or stage.
The dude talked the talk, and – be it in Cardiff for Kessler, Las Vegas for Hopkins or New York for the swan song battering of Jones – he walked the walk.
Now, heading into what’s arguably his own career’s most vital night – on home turf against an unbeaten belt-holder amid a sea of down-the-line money shots – Froch strides in with the same ****y assuredness of that very Welshman who never did get beat.
Even though, only five months ago… he lost 24 of 36 rounds on the cards to Andre Ward.
“I’m switched on. I’m ready,” Froch said. “And I’m not licking my wounds. I’m not sulking. I’m not feeling sorry for myself because I lost my last fight. I’m really not.
“I’m taking confidence from that loss. I know where I went wrong and I know what I need to do to put it right. And I can beat Lucian Bute. I’m going to be a three-time world champion. [Click Here To Read More]
I’ve seen him fight a few times in a few years – in both wins and losses – and he’s always reminded me a little bit of another slick U.K. super middleweight elitist, one Joe Calzaghe.
I got on the Calzaghe bandwagon just before his career-erupting defeat of Jeff Lacy and rode it through wins over Mikkel Kessler and Bernard Hopkins, so seeing another guy from that part of the world climbing the 168-pound ladder automatically warrants my extra attention.
Full disclosure… I was the idiot who thought Roy Jones Jr. would beat him.
That notwithstanding, one of the things I always admired about Calzaghe, other than the fact that he shares a March 23 birthday with my son, was the smooth-talking assassin persona he unfailingly displayed before fights – regardless of their opponent, significance or stage.
The dude talked the talk, and – be it in Cardiff for Kessler, Las Vegas for Hopkins or New York for the swan song battering of Jones – he walked the walk.
Now, heading into what’s arguably his own career’s most vital night – on home turf against an unbeaten belt-holder amid a sea of down-the-line money shots – Froch strides in with the same ****y assuredness of that very Welshman who never did get beat.
Even though, only five months ago… he lost 24 of 36 rounds on the cards to Andre Ward.
“I’m switched on. I’m ready,” Froch said. “And I’m not licking my wounds. I’m not sulking. I’m not feeling sorry for myself because I lost my last fight. I’m really not.
“I’m taking confidence from that loss. I know where I went wrong and I know what I need to do to put it right. And I can beat Lucian Bute. I’m going to be a three-time world champion. [Click Here To Read More]
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